In the design of armored vehicles, the resistance to penetration by ballistic impact is obviously of uppermost concern. Most military armored vehicles are intended to be utilized for offensive or reconnaissance purposes or emplaced defensive positions, all of which allow the assumption that the weapons fire will be directed at the frontal areas of the vehicle. The ballistic protection is thus attemped to be maximized at the frontal regions of the vehicle.
The major factors in the effectiveness of the armor in resisting penetration are thickness and the obliquity with which the projectile impact occurs. The thickness is arrived at by a weight versus performance compromise.
The obliquity of the frontal surface is sought to be maximized since the effectiveness of a given thickness is rendered much greater with increasing angles of impact, sloping surfaces tending to produce a thicker effective surface which must be penetrated in order to breach the armor.
Most armored vehicles are constructed with a unitary hull which may be formed from a casting in the case of heavy tanks, or alternatively a weldment of armor plate for more lightly armored vehicles. The hull has mounted to it a weapons-observation station most typically comprised of a separate turret structure which generally serves the purpose of providing offensive/defensive weaponry for the vehicle and a reconnaissance-observation point. The hull serves to house the functional components and generally the driver station and accordingly the envelope defined by the enclosed space within the hull, in some respects, is dictated by the need to house these functional components within its interior. The obliquity of the frontal surfaces of the hull are partially defined by the design objective of maximum obliquity and partially by the need to house the various functional components in a manner allowing them reasonably effective functioning.
Ideally, the hull should be configured to efficiently house the vehicle components, personnel and equipment without any additional hull structure incorporated solely as armor, since an excessive weight penalty would thereby be imposed.
In the case of wheeled armored vehicles, a major constraint has been imposed by the need for good driver visibility and the hull depth which is required to accommodate the front suspension system, this latter factor, particularly with high performance vehicles, requiring considerable suspension travel in order to negotiate rugged terrain at high speeds.
The corresponding wheel travel also presents a potential obstruction interfering with proper driver visibility if the driver were placed to the rear of the front suspension system.
Accordingly, the conventional practice has been to provide the location of the driver station in a forward location approximately even with or just behind the front wheels, requiring a considerable hull depth in this region to accommodate the driver. Since the hull should not extend too far forwardly of the front wheels to avoid an undue weight penalty, the hull configuration has included a frontal surface sharply tapering to a full hull depth at the driver station located in the forward region of the vehicle hull.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an armored wheeled vehicle in which the various functional components are arranged in such a way as to efficiently house the vehicle components and allow an extended oblique surface from the forward hull edge to a point beyond the midpoint of the vehicle such that a very shallow slope angle of the surface may be provided to maximize the resistance of the front of the hull to penetration by ballistic impact.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a hull configuration which does not significantly compromise the field of view of the driver and which enhances the field of fire and view at the weapon-observation station.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an armored wheeled vehicle configuration in which the driver visibility is not hindered by the front suspension system or by the need for the hull to accommodate the full wheel travel such that a high performance armored vehicle having a large front wheel displacement be provided while minimizing the hull depth required to accommodate such suspension.